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UN.GIFT Publications

When extensive child and slave labour was found on the cocoa farms of Côte d'Ivoire in late 2000, many British consumers were shocked. Chocolate companies, cocoa suppliers, and retailers searched for a way to address this serious problem. The way forward was unclear. The immediate reaction of some consumers was a decision to stop eating chocolate altogether or to call for a boycott of exports from Côte d'Ivoire. Yet it quickly became clear that a boycott might have disastrous results for both cocoa workers and Côte d'Ivoire as a whole. What was needed was more in-depth information of the conditions and extent of enslaved labour, of how cocoa from West Africa reaches the consumer, of what would be appropriate and reasoned responses to the problem.
More information about human trafficking on the website of Anti-Slavery.